


Stronger

by Little_Ki



Series: Just Imagine [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kaijo is mentioned in the background, the T rating is literally just cause I mentioned getting drinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23058484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Ki/pseuds/Little_Ki
Summary: Kise thought he had everything figured out. Until he didn't. Things started getting out of control and unfortunately you were the one that got hurt. He thought that things could get better, but would they really get better for the both of you or just better for him?
Relationships: Kise Ryouta/Reader
Series: Just Imagine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1656115
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Stronger

**Author's Note:**

> The third in the series! I believe this is one of the few angst pieces I've written. I tend to write happy endings so this was a bit of a challenge for me. I tried to pack emotion and self-love into this piece and hopefully I was able to convey that in the 1600 words. :)

“I’m sorry. I just don’t feel the same spark I felt when we started dating. I hope you’ll meet someone better. I know it hurts now, and I’m sorry. It’ll get better.” 

You had been dating Kise for three years and you thought your relationship was strong. You were wrong. It didn’t sink in at first, until the next day when you read the headline, “KISE RYOUTA CONFIRMS 6-MONTH RELATIONSHIP WITH CAMPAIGN PARTNER.” He’d been cheating on you; that’s when you broke down sobbing.

The rest of that night had been a blur. Your phone had rung over and over again as your friends and family tried to reach you. You couldn’t bring yourself to pick up. What could you say? You vaguely recalled your best friend Tetsuya, coming over and hugging you tightly as you wailed and dissolved in tears.

It had been three months since then, you’ve spent many sleepless nights with a tub of your favorite ice cream in your arms, courtesy of Atsushi. The shattered pieces of your heart were on the mend, albeit the sting of his infidelity would probably always be there. But you were all cried out of tears. You had given him your best and if he didn’t value that then you wouldn’t give him anymore of yourself, including your tears. Slowly but surely, you were moving on.

When you looked back there was a lot of things that began to make sense. Towards the end of your relationship he had spent more nights at work or at his place. The two of you met up less frequently and spoke less often. You had been drifting from one another and you didn’t, or probably wouldn’t want to see it. 

Some part of your mind still couldn’t believe that he had been seeing someone else for the last six months of your relationship, it was difficult to swallow. But you were done with wondering, done with comparing, and simply done with torturing yourself. You were extremely lucky that Tetsuya had been by your side during this process. When you explained the whole situation, he’d been furious. You’d only ever seen him that angry during his match with Kirisaki Daiichi. As he hugged you, he quietly explained all the ways he’d make Kise pay the next time they all met up to play basketball. Even though you should’ve discouraged him, it was soothing to hear about the retribution. Now you were going out to meet your friends at a Karaoke bar. While you were reluctant at first, you realized that you couldn’t let Kise prevent you from enjoying life. 

You were having a great time with your friends and just signed up for open mic, hoping to find an outlet for the last bits of the betrayal. What you didn’t expect was to bump into Kise with his former Kaijo teammates.

“__-cchi! What are you doing here? Did you come to for Open Mic night? Are you going to sing? Wow, you look great in that outfit.” Despite everything, you couldn’t help but tense after hearing his voice. How could he act like nothing had happened? Controlling your expression with a stiff smile, you mildly answered that you were out with some friends, choosing to ignore his compliment. Before he could say anything else you quietly told him you needed to get back to your table and walked away.

Once you reached your table you could feel the concerned gazes from your friends, but you shook your head. You didn’t want to talk about it now. Not after having such a fun night. Seeing the haunted look in your eyes, they didn’t push you any further. 

As conversations continued, you realized you no longer got butterflies around Kise. That was expected after he cheated on you, however, you weren’t even nervous, angry, or upset after seeing him. While you were surprised, you just felt, normal. As if he was just an acquaintance you bumped into. It seems like your heart had already begun moving forward.

That revelation brought a small smile on your face and you decided to get another drink. As you were giving your order to the bartender, you heard that honey voice you used to love. “I’d like the same.” He handed the bartender some cash. 

You didn’t know what he was trying to do and tried to hand your own money to the bartender. Kise smiled in your direction and the bartender walked away with a knowing expression on his face. “Thank you Kise, but I can pay for my own drink.”

Something flashed across his eyes as you said his surname. “Don’t be like that __-cchi. We’ve known each other for so long.” As the bartender finished your drinks, you put the correct amount for your order on the counter.

“Whether or not you take it is up to you.” As you turned to walk away, Kise grabbed your wrist.

“Wait! __-cchi, can we talk? Privately.” Your hands curled into fists and you broke away from his hand. Even though you felt indifferent towards him, you weren’t sure if you wanted to be alone with him.

“If you want to talk, we can do that here.” His brows furrowed, and you could tell that he was frustrated with your neutral expression. You weren’t sure what he wanted to say, but you refused to show anything on your face besides a polite smile.

“I made a mistake __-cchi. A huge mistake. A stupid mistake. It’s a mistake I’ve regretted every day for the last three months. I miss you, and leaving you was the worst decision I’ve ever made.” He reached out to take your hand which was still curled in a fist. “I still love you, and I’m so sorry for hurting you. If you’ll have me, I want us to be together again. Let me show you how much I love you. Let me prove that you’re the only one for me.” At this point you should’ve been angry, but really you were wondering why no one seemed to recognize Kise. Especially with the scene he was playing. But those golden eyes were so sincere that you were thrown off. He was the one cheating on you. Yet now, he wants to get back together? What was he thinking? You break his grip again and take a step back. 

“Kise. I accept your apology, but I don’t understand. You haven’t contacted me at all these past couple of months, yet when we happen to meet you suddenly want to get back together.” His hand hovered in the air before falling back towards his side. “You broke up with me, saying that you no longer felt a spark between us. Then confirm a six-month relationship with your campaign partner the next day. I have no idea what you’re thinking about, and honestly I don’t want to deal with it.” You were proud that you remained calm and was finally able to tell him what was on your mind. He became a bit frantic and tried to step towards you, but you stopped him from coming further. 

“No! Wait! __-cchi let me explain! My agency confirmed the relationship to promote the campaign! I never cheated on you.” After dating him for three years you could tell from his eyes that he was being honest, but you were still skeptical. “I didn’t contact you because I felt that I didn’t have the right to. Things kept getting messier and I didn’t want to confuse you. I was going to give up, but us meeting here today shows that we’re meant for each other.”

If it had been two or three months ago, you could’ve forgiven him. But he had let you cry for months. If he had just said something, you wouldn’t have tortured yourself. Wondering what happened and if there was something you could’ve done. Wondering what had gone wrong.

Deep down you knew you also had a hand in this. You knew that the two of you were drifting, but you didn’t try to mend the relationship either. Didn’t reach out or try to bring it up, hoping it would just eventually fade away on its own. Hoping it wasn’t as big of a problem. Even when he broke up with you, you let him walk away. Maybe it was inevitable for your relationship to end if the two of you weren’t willing to fight for it. You also couldn’t forget how calm and callous he was with breaking up with you. Inwardly you wondered what made him change his mind and if it would change again in the future. 

“Kise. I forgive you. But I don’t think we should get back together. The two of us had been distant for a while and neither of us fought to be with each other. You were right. The spark was gone. Instead of making us stronger, we just became comfortable.” Kise’s golden eyes turned amber but you continued. “There’s nothing wrong with comfortable. But instead of communicating together, we just took each other for granted.”

“Don’t say that __-cchi. If it’s both of our faults we can just fix it together!” Shaking your head, you tried to remain calm, but it was getting harder. So much had changed so suddenly. You just felt exhausted.

“We can’t change who we are so easily Kise. Even though we didn’t mean to, we hurt each other. I think it’s better if we both just move on. I’m sorry Kise. Thank you for an amazing three years.” You needed to leave. Your mind was calm, but your heart was a mess. You needed space. You needed time. You needed to be alone. Ordering an Uber, you walked back towards your friends. Ryouta was desperately calling your name behind you. 

The two of you would only hurt each other if you were together. This was for the best. At least you thought so.

**Author's Note:**

> Going back to this piece there was a lot of emotion packed into it. I really wanted to focus on having the reader come into her own and growing from the experience. Sometimes its okay that things didn't work out. Whats important is understanding yourself and what you could learn from the experience. But ultimately we're all still learning and we can only do our best. Sometimes that means walking away and giving yourself the time and room to think. There was so much more I wanted to unpack and expand on but I felt that it wasn't suited for the main scene I wanted to show. I may even revisit this piece in the future, who knows.


End file.
